Mercedes tests the autonomous driving of the future on a route across five continents
As already announced in the past Frankfurt International Motor Show in September, Mercedes-Benz was going to test its autonomous driving in a fast-paced journey that would cover five continents in five months. In fact, it was Dieter ZetscheThe Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, who kicked off this adventure on wheels to develop the technology and safety that will shape the future of the automobile.
The aim of this feat is to test Mercedes' advanced automated driving functions with an experimental prototype based on the new production sedan. A vehicle of the S-Classwhich has autonomous functions to successfully carry out this project, which began last month and will last until January 2018.
The Mercedes car in this prototype will go through a series of traffic situations of varying complexity. in order to collect information as accurately as possible about driving modes around the world. In this way, it will gain valuable experience that will enable progress towards the autonomous driving of the future.
Five months, five continents
The tour, which began in Germany and continues in China this October, will hit the roads of Australia in November and travel through South Africa in December. The project will conclude in January 2018, when the vehicle will arrive in time for the CES Show in Las Vegas. A total of five continents traveled in five months to acquire data on the habits of drivers in different countries and to continue to support innovation and technology in Mercedes.
In Germany, the focus was on the specific driving behavior on the autobahn and in congested traffic. In China, the focus is on the driving behavior in dense traffic in a metropolis with several million inhabitants such as Shanghai. In Australia, the development specialists will use the route from Sydney to Melbourne to test their current digital maps. Next, mapping will also be testedin the Cape Town metropolitan area in South Africa. Finally, the route will study Los Angeles and Las Vegas to evaluate behavior in heavy urban traffic, where vehicles can overtake on the right.
Ola Källenius, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG, Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Development, said that recording, processing and interpreting highly complex situations in road traffic is the key to safe autonomous and automated driving.
"A critical environment in this context is the heavy urban traffic. For this reason, we consciously test our automated driving functions in situations that are common in large metropolises. This will make our vehicles not only smarter, but also safer," he added.
Lighting system of the future: Digital Light
In addition, Mercedes takes the opportunity to test a prototype of headlights incorporating Digital Light technology. Each of these headlamps is composed of chips with more than one million tiny mirrors, which emit a permanent, high-definition, non-dazzling high beam. The headlamps are also capable of projecting light markings onto the road, thereby acquiring information from the surroundings. This lighting system performs functions that were presented as a vision of the future in early 2015 in the F 015 Luxury in Motion experimental prototype.
New technologies require a secure legal framework
On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz is in favor of establishing an international legal framework to regulate autonomous and automated driving. In this respect, its actions are linked to the international agreement on road traffic law, which establishes a binding legal framework for national laws and which, for the time being, mandatorily requires the presence of a driver.
"National borders should not be an obstacle to progress. Legislation must keep pace with technological development. Otherwise, important innovations for autonomous and automated driving cannot reach the road," clarified Renata Jungo Brüngger, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Integrity and Legal Affairs. "Legal certainty is a basic prerequisite for society's acceptance of autonomous driving. That is why we need an international harmonization of the legal framework as soon as possible," she concluded.
It is no coincidence that autonomous driving is one of the four strategic pillars that will shape the future of Mercerdes-Benz. This, together with networking, flexible and shared use of services and electric propulsion, will be the driving force of tomorrow.
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Sources: Hybrids and electrics; Esdiario.
